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Illinois Enacts Landmark Homeless Bill Of Rights

Homeless
people in Illinois often run into roadblocks when they try to vote,
apply for a job and access various public services due to their housing
status.

But Illinois took a significant step earlier this month to
help improve the situation of those without a roof over their heads by
becoming the second U.S. state to enact a Homeless Bill of Rights.

Under
the new state law, which took effect immediately, people cannot be
discriminated against or denied basic equal rights merely because they
lack a permanent address.

Bob Palmer, policy director at Housing
Action Illinois, said the recent effort is also about ending the stigma
associated with people who are experiencing homelessness.

“The one
thing that everyone who is homeless has in common is that they can’t
afford a home, and so homelessness is really an economic problem,”
Palmer said. “To focus on somebody’s personal short comings is a
diversion from the real problem.”

One of the rights now extended to the homeless includes the ability to maintain employment.

Employers
often discriminate against people who don’t have a home, making it a
challenge for those individuals to gain the financial footing necessary
to emerge from homelessness.

The Homeless Bill of Rights will now
make it easier for those without a permanent address to get and keep a
job, which will help them get back on their feet, said State Sen. Ira Silverstein
(D–Chicago), who sponsored the legislation in the Senate.

Under
the measure, homeless people in Illinois also have the right to
access emergency medical care and move freely through public
buildings, spaces and transit systems. Other rights extended to the
homeless include privacy of personal property, information and records,
equal treatment from all state and municipal agencies and the ability to
vote on the same basis as others in the state.

“Many of us who
enjoy these rights take them for granted and do not realize that
something as simple as not having a physical address would keep us from
utilizing these rights,” Silverstein said in a statement.

Going
forward, individuals who are unjustly denied any of these rights because
they are homeless are allowed to take legal action and seek damages.

The Illinois General Assembly passed the measure, SB 1210, back in May, and Gov. Pat Quinn signed it on August 22.

Rhode
Island was the first state to enact a Homeless Bill of Rights in June
2012. Connecticut passed its Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights this year
and it will take effect October 1. Other states like California, Missouri,
Oregon and Vermont are also considering similar measures.

Palmer said there
are a myriad of reasons as to why people don’t have a permanent home, but the issue of homelessness boils down to a simple point.

“There’s
people who have houses. There’s people who don’t have houses,” he said.
“It doesn’t seem like you should be discriminated against just because
you don’t have a house.”

A 2011 report by the National Alliance to
End Homelessness found that about 14,055 people in Illinois experience
homelessness each night. The organization updated its “State of
Homelessness” report (PDF) this August, which showed homelessness in Illinois increased slightly, by 1 percent, from 2011 to 2012.

Chronic
homelessness, however, decreased 13 percent in the state during that
time period, the report showed. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development defines chronic homelessness as long-term or repeated
homelessness among people who often have a disability.

In Chicago,
some 116,000 people were homeless during in the 2012-2013 academic year,
according to a recent analysis by the Chicago Coalition for the
Homeless (CCH), which advocated for the new law. That figure is up 10
percent compared to the previous year, CCH found.

Many people in the state
have become homeless “as a result of economic hardship, a severe
shortage of safe and affordable housing, and a shrinking social safety
net,” the legislation reads.

Over recent years, human services in the state that those in
need rely on have seen significant cuts due to Illinois' financial
woes, which now includes an underfunded pension system that is about $100 billion in the red and $6.1
billion in unpaid bills, the latter of which is expected to grow larger in coming months.

State
Rep. Chris Welch (D-Hillside), who sponsored the legislation in the
House, said adequate housing in Illinois is also a
“continuing problem.”

“I will continue to fight for affordable
housing options and vital services for people who are displaced, as well
as residents who are struggling during these difficult economic times,”
he said in a statement. “I am also committed to improving our local
economy and creating more living-wage jobs so that everyone has an
opportunity to obtain employment.”